The Royal Children's Hospital

Hospital website →

The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Parkville is a world-renowned specialist paediatric hospital, delivering exceptional care to infants, children, and adolescents from across Victoria, as well as interstate and overseas.

As a pharmacy intern at RCH, you’ll be part of a dynamic and supportive team dedicated to ensuring the safe and effective use of medicines for paediatric patients. Our pharmacists play a vital role in the multidisciplinary care team and are involved in a broad range of clinical and operational services across the hospital.

Pharmacy Services at RCH include:

  • Clinical Pharmacy Services
    Delivered across a variety of specialised areas, including:
    • Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care (PICU & NICU)
    • Children’s Cancer Centre
    • Cardiology & Cardiac Surgery
    • Neuroscience, Adolescent Medicine, Mental Health
    • General Medicine, Surgery, Orthopaedics, Gastroenterology, Rehabilitation
    • Emergency Medicine, Endocrinology, Respiratory, and Hospital in the Home
  • Dispensary Services
    • Centralised inpatient and outpatient dispensaries
    • Satellite pharmacies located across all clinical floors
  • Manufacturing Services
    • Extemporaneous compounding to ensure safe and accurate paediatric dosing
    • Aseptic preparation of chemotherapy, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), antibiotic infusors, and other specialised medications
  • Specialist Areas
    • Paediatric Medicines Information
    • Clinical Trials
    • Multidisciplinary contributions to medication safety, adverse drug reactions, drug usage evaluation, immunisations, palliative care, AMS and quality improvement initiatives

Joining the pharmacy team at RCH offers an exciting and unique opportunity to develop your clinical, technical, and professional skills in one of Australia’s leading paediatric healthcare environments.

For more information, visit www.rch.org.au

Intern program information

4 intern positions are available (government-funded)

This program provides a unique and comprehensive learning experience, tailored to help you develop essential skills in paediatric pharmacy practice.

  • General Orientation: Interns will begin with a week of general orientation to the RCH pharmacy department, providing an overview of the hospital's structure, services, and the pharmacy team’s role in patient care.
  • Introductory Weeks: Interns will start in operational areas to consolidate their technical skills and gain familiarity with our electronic medical records system, EPIC. Interns will also spend time in the Medicines Information team and participate in a dedicated clinical teaching week.
  • Clinical Rotations: Interns will rotate through significant areas of the hospital, providing clinical pharmacy services to a range of wards and specialties. These clinical rotations typically last 3-4 weeks, with shorter rotations in the Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (PICU & NICU) and other specialised areas.
  • Specialty Exposure: Interns will gain experience in non-sterile and aseptic manufacturing, outpatient dispensary services, oncology pharmacy, and other specialty areas across the hospital.
  • Preceptor Support: Each intern is assigned a dedicated preceptor who will mentor and evaluate their performance throughout the year, ensuring continuous development and support.
  • Exam Preparation & Tutorials: RCH offers a comprehensive tutorial and exam preparation program, covering a wide range of topics including adult and paediatric clinical practice, primary healthcare, law and ethics, and pharmacy calculations.
  • Community Pharmacy Exposure: Interns will have the opportunity to spend a week working in a community pharmacy of their choice to assist with exam preparation and broaden their professional experience.
  • Research Project: We strongly encourage all interns to engage in a research project during their year, working alongside a pharmacist or project supervisor to contribute to advancing the field.

This structured program offers a great opportunity to develop as a well-rounded pharmacist in a world-class paediatric hospital environment.

Contacts

Annamika Aswani

Student and Intern Educator – Senior Pharmacist

annamika.aswani@rch.org.au

Tel: 9345 5492 

Intern positions

4 total (DHHS funded)